Il Sole 24h – Reports push up business

24 Nov Il Sole 24h – Reports push up business

Reports push up business

From big as Pirelli to PMI like Protom more and more companies make sustainability reporting

Also in Italian companies it is becoming increasingly central the sustainability reporting, in its many shades: sustainability report (in various standards), integrated reporting, the report marked based on the ONU Global Compact rules, on the principles of shared value (the value created by the shared guru Michael Porter and Mark Kramer), or on the development goals of the United Nations (SDG) launched last year. Moreover, now, it is coming the Italian transposition of the new Directive 2014/95 / EU on the no-financial information, which will help to enrich the scenario. The Legislation will be applied in Italy from 2017 only for large companies, it will be of public interest and will count over 500 employees. And just for these: it has been so far excluded (in last draft implementing decree under discussion between the two sides) the mandatory extension to their suppliers (including small and medium sizes, the so-called PMI) as suggested initially by the MEF, the Ministry of Economy and Finance, which is handling public consultations with commendable transparency. However, every business company, even PMI, can freely choose whether and how to focus on the issues of corruption, gender equality, environment, human rights – issues covered by the directive – if and how reporting the measures undertaken actions, through what kind of document and standards, whether to make an outside certification. There are no limits to ethical, green or social ambition a company, unless those limits are established by a legislation (like the flare Directive) or the Code of Conduct of the Italian Stock Exchange (for the listed that have joined) or the selected governance rules and those imposed by a vanguard global provider along its entire supply chain. But these tools can be levers of business development, with particular reference to the enhancement of the community of stakeholders (employees, suppliers, customers, investors, local communities, environmental groups)? The Legislation 2014/95 is based on the principle “comply or explain” (adequate or explain why you do not do it”), and so theoretically, it does not require acompany to “do”; but admitting publicly the inaction on important issues may have negative repercussions on the reputation of a large group and with great odds on the business – says Eleonora Giada Pessina, Pirelli sustainability Group officer – The increase of “active” stakeholder engagement (the involvement of stakeholders) is not guaranteed by the Legislation, but strongly pursued by the major groups, now, already, in practice”.

On the same excellence line like Pirelli, wants to position itself a PMI like Protom, a leader in Europe in advanced engineering and consulting services for the development of projects and solutions with a high degree of innovation. Protom – headquarters in Naples, with operating offices in Lombardy, Lazio, Puglia and in France and business in Britain and Brazil – worked for big players like Leonardo, Fca, Superjet, Piaggio Aerospace, ATR, Hitachi and Airbus, but it has not been “forced” by them to make a reporting ethics: it has freely chosen it and enthusiastically adopt the rules of the ONU Global Compact on human rights, work, environment and anti-corruption. “We decided – says the the founder of Protom, Fabio De Felice, also a professor of engineering and chief of the rector at ‘University of Cassino – to model all our activities on the Global Compact principles and on the 17 sustainability objectives of the United Nations. For example, all the design activities for the aviation, rail and automotive aim to vehicles that reduce as much as possible the environment impact and considering these principles it is possible to understand the birth of the Green Energy Lab, which will propose solutions for environmentally sustainable transportation.

Also our team in charge of public administration consulting has a mandate to work on projects that focus on social and environmental improvement of the areas involved. ” The advantages? In addition to the estimated recovery of efficiency and satisfaction of acting in an ethical manner, “we will gain an international 360-degree view that will also help us in the business, extending the offer and serving customers better, gaining a competitive advantage over foreign competitors, that have not placed themselves on the ESG (environment, sustainability, governance) board yet. ” And the big groups subject to the Legislation 2014/95 / EU how will reinterpret the sustainability and with what benefits to their stakeholders? “The legislation encourages us to consider all the stakeholders of the company, from the perspective of shared value beyond that of mere transparency – explains Piermario Barzaghi, KPMG partner -. The first to benefit will be the investors, using, among others, also the data related to sustainability to make their own decisions. As for the other stakeholders (customers, citizens, territory, third sector, etc.) the benefit means the ability to have access to social and ethical information that enable more informed purchasing choices. The no-financial reporting must be thought, therefore, strategically, setting objectives and targets and measuring their achievement in order to contribute to the implementation of the development goals of the United Nations “.